Celta Vigo hope to persuade José Mourinho to release Oriol Romeu on a season-long loan from Chelsea next term with the Spain Under-21 international now fit again following a long-term knee injury.

Romeu, who was signed from Barcelona by André Villas-Boas at Stamford Bridge back in 2011, had started to feature more regularly for Rafael Benítez's side until rupturing his cruciate knee ligament in a victory at Sunderland in early December. The 21-year-old spent the rest of the campaign in rehabilitation, returning to light training in April, and was fit enough to feature last month in a charity match alongside his club-mate Juan Mata in memory of the former Espanyol captain Dani Jarque, who died in 2009 aged 26.

Mourinho wants to assess Chelsea's numerous loan players – there were 27 dispatched to various clubs around the world last season – upon the resumption of pre-season training on 8 July and his instinct will be to include Romeu on the club's tour of the Far East, which starts the following week.

Celta Vigo's interest provides the Portuguese with an option to offer the midfielder regular football, and the new manager will make a final decision over a prospective loan next month. Mourinho is also likely to include the Belgium winger Kevin De Bruyne in his plans despite Borussia Dortmund still hoping to sign the youngster on a permanent deal.